Image sequence coding achieves high efficiency by exploiting both spatial (intra-frame) and temporal (inter-frame) correlations. Set partition coding (SPC) is an efficient means for encoding transforms of datasets, regardless of dimension, and exploits well correlations within and among image frames. SPC has served as an auxiliary component to the coding efficiency of wavelet-based approaches in two dimensions, including Embedded Zerotree Wavelet (EZW), the JPEG 2000 image compression standard, and even the 2D lossy-to-lossless compression algorithm recently standardized by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). SPC has also been successfully applied into several other well-known image coding algorithms including, but not limited to Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees (SPIHT), Set-Partitioning Embedded Block (SPECK), SWEET, Subband Block Hierarchial Partitioning (SBHP), and Embedded Zero Block Coding (EZBC). Set Partition Coding (SPC), in combination with other entropy coding methods, such as arithmetic coding, takes advantage of the beneficial localization properties of wavelet transforms to achieve competitive rate-distortion performance.
There are two main approaches for exploiting temporal correlation (an advantage of SPC): 1) inter-frame prediction; and 2) three-dimensional (3D) decomposition. However, inter-frame prediction with motion compensation is the more computationally intensive, although it is widely used in the MPEGx and H.26x video coding standards. But when used with motion estimation and compensation, reconstruction at the encoder side can be highly complex. One reason is that the inter-coding framework prohibits random frame access, which is an important feature for post-production editing applications. Thus, to overcome these drawbacks, intra coding is used for every frame of an image sequence, such as in motion JPEG 2000. The current standard for digital cinema distribution requires that every frame is coded independently with JPEG 2000. But this method, as well as all intra-coding methods, sacrifices coding efficiency to some extent due to the unexploited inter-frame correlation.